Baling-press feeder



June 24, 1930.

W. C. RUTH BALING PRESS FEE DER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed June 25, 1928June 24, 1930. w, c U 1,768,214

BALING PRESS FEEDER Filed June 23. 1928 a 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 WM; %'//m(7/21/ :lostrllction' Patented June 24, 1930 f g gPWIL LIAM o. RU TH, OFGAP ,"PENNSYLVANIA 7 [Blame-raises FEEDER Application jfiled June 23',

' The invention relates to feeders designed priniarily' for usewithbaling presses; and it aims to provlde a new andnnproved feeder,

which while, being rather simple and inex- PQDSlVByWlll be eflicientanddurableandcannotbecomeclogged with hay, straw or other material beinghandled.

\Vhile self-"feeders forhay baling presses have been proposed, theyencounter difiiculty T incutting ofif the'stream of hay being fed to theinlet of the press, when a suflicient quantity has been fed into thebalechamber of "the press and a bale is tobeco-inpleted." A mass o1 hay,in particular, is difiicult to tear ""1" apart or separate,but I havefound that by -,using a unique construction and relation of parts leanquickly and effectively get a clean cut in the moving mass or stream ofhay and thus have the inlet of the press en- 7 tirely clear of hay whena s'uflicient quantit'y' has been fed into the bale chamberand a bale isto be completed. "By further using one of the feeders which iscontinuously operated, to keep hay from w1' appingaround or clogging oneof the feeders which is "stop'ped'at intervalsg'l have produced amachine which will not clog and 'WlllCl'l 1s highly efiicient.

Withthe foregoing in view, the invention 85 resides in the novel subjectmatter herein-"1 after described and claimed, the preferred embodimentsbeing shown in the accompany ing drawings.

Fig. l is a longitudinal sectional view 1140 through a feederconstructed inaccordance -witl1'my invention, showing in operativerelation with the inlet "throat of a. bahng pre Fi-gAQFis a tragnientarytop plan viewiof Fig. 3 is an innerend elevation, partsbeing in sectionon line 3-3 of-Fig. 1.. Fig. 4' is a detail sectionalview with partsomitted, showing a I modified form of con- .claimed, variations may bemade.

I A*'furtherai1n is to provide a novel con- 's'truction andrelation-ofparts which in "10'; 'sures clearing of all material from'thede-' liveryend of the feeder whenever the feeding {operation is to be temporarilyarrested.

: the lowermost thereof turn toward-the resaidconveyor againstfurtheradvance,

ms; Serial No. 287,753. p

The drawings above briefly describediL lustr'ate the preferred form ofconstruction and while this construction will be herein specificallyexplained, it isto be understood that=within the scope of the inventionas The 'numera'ls 5 denote two laterally spaced I verticalrside wallswhich extend laterally from the inlet throat T ofa balin'g; press P andmay be supported in any desired'manner, the upper, outer portions 6ofsthese walls being preferably disposed in upwardly "diverging relation'to assist; in guiding the material being/handled onto a main conveyor-7 which extends"longitudinally Joe-"a5 tween the lowerportions of saidwalls. This conveyor is ofthe slatted aprontype composed of cross slatsconnectingchains which are trained around inner and outersproc'k V etsonshafts 8 9, extending transversely between the walls" 5 the shaft8'being provided with a sprocket wheel 10 fore purpose to appear. 'Thedelivery end of the conveyor"? terminatesin .inwardlyspaced relationwith the inner'ends of the walls 5; and an auxiliary conveyor 11 ispositioned to receive the materialwfrom said niaincon veyor 7, saidauxiliary conveyor extending to'the inner ends ofthe walls 5 This auxil-Y 'iary conveyor is of the'endless belt type and embodies chainsglQfonapurpose to be described. a

v Ac; drum .13 extends transversely between i the walls 5 .overthedelivery. end of 'the main [conveyor 7 and is provided with ashaft 14;

which extends through appropriatebearings carried by said walls.-gThisvdrum is equipped wwitha plurality of outwardly projecting curvedarms 15' which are spaced apart .cir- Vcumferentially landlongitudinally of said drum; said arms normallyco-operating with themain conveyor 7 in feeding the material from this conveyor ontotheauxiliary con-v veyor ll. The arms 15 are so curved that ceivi-ng end;ofthe. conveyor Tin hook-like; i'orm. Thus, upon stopping of the conveyor'7 and the drum ;l3,-said arms and conveyoralonecoeoperate in holdingthe; material on A plurality of forks 16 are employed to clean allmaterial from the arms as they ascend and to co-operate with theauxiliary conveyor 11in feedingthe material received bythis conveyor,into the throat T. Between their ends, the forks 16 are provided withbearingsv 17 mounted on the cranks 18 of a crank shaft 19 which extends"trans-f versely between the walls 5, between their it inner ends andthe drum 18. Links 20 are pivoted at one end to the upper ends of the:

forks 16, and at their other ends are pivoted to 'a transverse rod 21which issecured to the side walls 5 above the .drum 13. Curved, cleaningfingers 22 for the'forks 16, are

mounted onea transverse bar 23 securedto the inner ,e lfils of the walls5." Upon rota- ,tion offlthe crankshaft 1 9, the forks 16 are operatedsothatieach fork moves downward-.

ly between the inner ends of the arms 15, then moves inwardly toward thedelivery 7 end of the auxiliary Conveyor 11, then moves upwardly betweenthe cleaning fingers'22f andthen moves outwardly toward the drum Iotherwise lodge and pack upon them, and

i 13, inread-iness to again descend. The'forks '16 moving in thismanner, effectively clean .a

all material from the arms 15which would as theforks rise, they arecleaned. by the 'fingers22. --These forks, in moving down-j wardly' andinwardly, co-operate with the auxiliary conveyor .11 infeeding the ma- 1terial received.- by the, latter, into.;the throat T.

.. 'A- transverse.

-"the jinner portions of the vwalls 5 and is i mounted in appropriatebearings,.said shaft being driven by-any desired means such .as thechain 26, the sprockets 27 and shaft 28."

Shaft Qfcarries sprockets 29 meshing with the chains 12 to drive theauxiliary conveyor 11. .This'shaft also carries a sprocket 80 meshingwith avertical chain, 31 which is, trained'over a sprocket 82 on-thecrank -shaft"19. Hence, as long as shaft 24 is driven, the auxiliaryconveyor, 11 and the forks 16 will be operated.

same. paths of the-arms 15thesearms and the con- 1 veyor" 7 ;co-act infeeding a stream or layer Another sprocket 337isprovided onlthe shaft 24and maybe either connected with ordi'sconnected from the shaft by meansof an appropriate 'CllltCh{ 34 This sprocket drives a sprocket chain'35: which is trained around-a large sprocket fwheel 86. on the shaft'jl f. Chain. 35 Jmeshes also with the sprocket wheel 10 of the 'mainconveyor 'Henc'e, as long as the sprocket 33' is driven, the rotatablefeeder 13-7-14:.15 will be driven and the main conveyor 7 will also beoperated Thematerial to be handled is thrown into the outer end of thefeeder uponthe main conveyor 7 and is inwardly carriedby the As soon "asthe material reaches the terial on into the throat or inlet T, each forkfor instance while completing a b ale'in said 1 at a time when suchdrive shaft 24; extends under of hay onto the auxiliary conveyor 11. The

forks 16 not only clean the arms 15 of all material which vwouldotherwise accumulate V and packupon them but cooperate with the 1 fauxiliary conveyor 11 in feeding the ma-] being cleaned upon its ascent,by the'fingers 22, Whenever it is desired to temporarily" arrest thefeeding of material to the pressP,

press, the clutch- 345is thrown v out, thus dis- 1 continuing operation'of the main" conveyor 7' and the rotary'feeder 1314-'15 and "causingsaid conveyor Tandthe curved arms 15 tojalone' cooperate in holding thematerial against further advance. The shaft 24; continues torotatehowevergand continues to drive'thejauxiliary conveyor ll'and theforks V 1.6, with .the' result thatsaid forks tear all f materiali inadvance off 'the drum 1 3-from that heldby the arms 15 and the maincon'veyor 7. Consequently, the forks-16 and the auxiliary conveyor 11effectively clear the vinner or delivery 'end of'thefeeder of'allmaterial, feeding it on into the press at that; time and overcoming thepossibility of -it accidentally dropping through the throat T droppingwould be undesirable. I v

In Fig. 4, a reciprocatory, and'oscillatory; pan or chute 11*? is shownwhich forms an? auxiliaryconveyor and may be used if desired instead ofthe conveyor '11. A bell 1 crank or the equivalent 11 is connected with"1 the member 11 for moving it-upon the sup? porting bar 11, said part l1being connected by a pitman 11 with a crank: 11;: ongshaft '19, to beactuated by thelatteri- Excellent results are obtainableifr omthe rgeneral construction; shown and described-,

and'such construction is therefore preferably inwardly spacedrelationwith the inner ends thereof, an auxiliary j'conveyor extendingfrom the'delivery end of said main-conveyor to saidrinner ends ofsaidwalls, a rotary drum extending transversely '-between the;

upper portionspf saidwalls'above said 'dellvery end of sald main endlessconveyor and I having projecting arms co-operable withthe 5 latter infeeding material onto said auxiliary conveyor, said arms and said mainconveyor;- being adapted to hold thematerial on said main conveyoragainst furtheradvance when said main conveyor and said drum, arestopped, forks for. cleaningjsaid arms as the,

latter ascend, said forks normally-coroperat tii laterally spaced sidewalls whose inner ends are disposed at the inlet throat of a balingpress, amain endless conveyor between the lower portions of said wallsterminating in inwardly spaced relation with the inner ends thereof, anauxiliary conveyor extending from the delivery end of said main conveyorto said inner ends of said walls, a rotary drum extending transverselybetween the upper portions of said walls above said delivery end of saidmain endless conveyor and having projecting arms co-operable with thelatter in feeding material onto said auxiliary conveyor, said arms andsaid main conveyor being adapted to hold the materialvon said mainconveyor against further advance when said main conveyor and said drumare stopped, forms for cleaning said arms as the latter ascend, saidforks normally co-operating with said auxiliary conveyor in advancingthe material received by the latter but being operable upon stopping ofsaid drum and said main conveyor to tear all material in advance of thedrum from the material held by the drum arms and main conveyor, saidforks being mounted between the inner extremities of said sidewalls oversaid auxiliary conveyor, a horizontal bar extending between said innerextremities of said side walls, a plurality of C-shaped cleaners betweenwhich said forks move upwardly after they have performed their duty,theupper ends of said cleaners being secured to said bar and the lower endsof said cleaners being inwardly directed toward the baling press throat,means for continuously driving said auxiliary conveyor and said forks,and means for driving said main conveyor and said drum and for stoppingthem at will.

3. In a feeder", a conveyor, a rotatable drum over the delivery end ofsaid conveyor and having projecting arms so curved that the lowermostthereof turn toward the receiving end of said conveyor, said arms beingnormally co-operable with said conveyor in advancing the material andupon stopping of said conveyor and drum being adapted to coast with saidconveyor in holding the material on the latter against further advance,forks in advance of said drum mounted for movement downwardly betweenthe inner ends of said arms, then toward the outer ends of said arms,then upwardly and then again toward the inner ends of said arms, wherebysaid forks will normally clear all material from the ascending arms andupon stopping of the conveyor and drum will tear, all material inadvance of said drum from that jointly held by the arms and theconveyor, means for continuously driving said forks, and means fordriving said conveyor and said drum or for stopping them at will.

4, A feeder comprising two laterally spaced side walls, a main conveyorbetween the lower portions of said walls terminating in inwardly spacedrelation with the inner ends thereof, an auxiliary conveyor extendingfrom the delivery end of said mainsconveyor to said inner ends of saidwalls, a

' rotary drum extending transversely between the upper portions of saidwalls above said delivery end of said main conveyor and havingprojecting arms co-operable with the latter in feeding material ontosaid auxiliary conveyor, said arms being so curved that the lowermostthereof turn toward the receiving end of said main conveyor, wherebysaid arms are adapted to co-operate with said main conveyor in holdingthe material on the latter against further advance when said mainconveyor and said drum are stopped, forks for cleaning said arms as thelatter ascend, said forks normally co-operating with said auxiliaryconveyor in advancing the material received by the latter but beingoperable upon stopping of said drum and said main conveyor to tear allmaterial in advance of the drum from the material held by the drum armsand main conveyor,means for continuously driving said auxiliary conveyorand said forks, and means for driving said main conveyor and said drumand for stopping them at will.

5. In a feeder, a rotatable member having pro ecting arms to engage thematerial to be fed, cleaning members at one side of said

